I lied. The Halloween thread. - by Tocky
demagogue on 2/11/2011 at 19:22
I don't like the "crawly" type of insects with little legs ... scorpions, wasps, roaches, spiders (except tarantulas are almost ok because they're bordering on animal-like). I don't mind snakes and rodents though. But my brother is the opposite. I got stung by a scorpion once that had crawled into my towel after a bath, and yes it was only a few inches east of Eden, so to speak. The sting itself hurt but wasn't unbearable... What was much worse was seeing the scorpion crawl out and the fear of what would happen.
The best spider story I remember was from a fellow teacher near Nagasaki during the summer, when it gets really hot and humid and downright Jurassic-sized insects roam the forests. Somebody had kicked in his door so there was massive head-sized hole in the bottom corner. (I don't remember how that happened). He laid down some traps for any insects that came through. When we got back to his house that afternoon, he opened the door and one of the traps was gone... And there was a trail of leg marks going down the hall and turning left going into the living room. That's when the rest of us said something like "Ok, well, we gotta go now!" He ventured down the hall and when he reached the living room he saw an epic sized spider that had crawled completely into the trap and still had his legs poking out the holes to pick it completely up and carry it... When the spider heard him coming it turned around to "face" him and he literally screamed and started stamping on it.
Lytha on 3/11/2011 at 07:24
Quote Posted by Tocky
We call those news bees
Those are most likely
wasps, not bees at all. Bees aren't particularly interested in coke cans or in your cake, so any flying insect that harasses you for having these food items is probably not a bee.
To get a bee into your mouth, you'd have to stand in front of a bee hive with your mouth open, smelling of bad perfume or doing anything else to upset the hive. Or something of that sort.
Hornets should also be more interested in ripping the torso off wasps, spiders and bees rather than interested in your coke can.
Speaking from an eurocentric point of view here, so bee habits may be different on other parts of the globe. But as a hobby bee-keeper I am always pissed off when some idiot calls a wasp a bee. This stupidity leads to hostility against my busy little crawlies.
Dia on 3/11/2011 at 11:12
Apologies for the error in referring to said creatures as 'bees', but it's a common mistake here, especially since they're also sometimes referred to as 'meat bees'. They're also called 'garbage bees' and 'yellow jackets' (at least in the Midwest). Regardless, for those of us who're seriously allergic, the stings of those nasty little buggers can be just as lethal as those from a honey bee.
And I am not an idiot.
Lytha on 3/11/2011 at 17:11
A "yellow jacket" interested in meat, garbage and coke cans is definitely a wasp.
You may find the following site interesting:
(
http://www.allergyclinic.co.uk/bees_wasps_and_insects.htm)
Please notice the lines that say the following:
Quote:
Patients with an allergy to either a bee or a wasp often ask if this means they are more likely to be allergic to the other. Although this can occur (when someone happens to be allergic to both substances) but in practice it is rather unusual.
Also, I noticed when I at some point had to go to doctors about one particular bee sting that I had (it was inflammated and had pus at the entry point) that doctors are idiots about this. First, they were messing up wasps and bees, or thought that I was an idiot who messed these two types up. Next, I could observe how a
"I suspect that patient might be allergic to bee stings" became a plain
"patient is allergic to bee stings" over the course of a couple of letters from doctor to doctor, without any physical indication or tests about it. Since I've been stung quite a few times after then, this was obviously false.
Anyway...
Quote Posted by Dia
And I am not an idiot.
I don't know you well enough to be a judge of your IQ. :p
However, someone messing up two distinctly types of very common animals... that's just as if someone was calling cats dogs,
"because they've both 4 legs, fur, a tail and they are carnivores". Something I'd expect from a small child, rather than from an adult.
Or from one of these dolts in bakeries:
"Aw yuck, look at the 'bees' at the pies over there. I just hate bees, and bee-keepers should all be sued because they breed these bastards!!" I was more thinking of people like that and the aforementioned doctors rather than you, when I wrote the "idiot" line in the posting above.
Stitch on 3/11/2011 at 17:42
Quote Posted by Lytha
However, someone messing up two distinctly types of very common animals... that's just as if someone was calling cats dogs,
"because they've both 4 legs, fur, a tail and they are carnivores". Something I'd expect from a small child, rather than from an adult.
While I applaud your desire to set the record straight, you might find such educational attempts go over better if you aren't simultaneously insulting your audience by likening them to "idiots" or "small children."
Also: I killed two bees today (I think :confused:)
Sulphur on 3/11/2011 at 18:15
Aww, isn't that the cutest little Halloween monster ever. Congratulations on the young Fronkensteen. :thumb:
nickie on 3/11/2011 at 18:39
Thank you Sulphur but it isn't mine. It may turn out to be related in due course. In the meantime, I am seriously worried about the face in the corner. I haven't seen another 12 week scan with a face peering away like that. :eek:
Sulphur on 3/11/2011 at 18:41
Oh well, congratulations anyway. Apples, trees, all that. :D
